16 Nov 2014

on garlic

Does this look evil to you?


Maybe if you’re a vampire (in which case … wow), but to most people, this is a lovely fat head of garlic. Pretty purple stripes, even.

To me, this represents the culmination of a months-long, supreme struggle of the conscience.

Because this is imported garlic.

Because my own is not ready yet. Because there is no local or Australian grown fresh garlic in the shops that I can find. Because even the minced bottled processed stuff is largely made of imported garlic.

Because one of my kitchen resolutions is to buy local or Australian produce wherever possible.

But there is only so long one can go without real garlic. I’ve been using garlic-infused olive oil (made in Australia) and I did find a small bottle of processed stuff using Australian garlic — but it tasted ghastly, not garlicky, and was thrown in the bin.

So in the end, after weeks of to-ing and fro-ing, do-I-don’t-I, resisting, longing, prevaricating, I capitulated to my tastebuds and bought this head of garlic from the local fruit and veg shop.

It’s Mexican — I’m not entirely sure where this sits on the spectrum of imported produce; sometimes the garlic is from China, sometimes it is from Spain, and I must admit I don’t mind supporting Spanish growers as my friend F is Spanish and hey, the Spanish economy needs help too. But I’d rather buy Australian garlic.

And why can’t I? If one can buy all sorts of other fruit and veg out of season, grown in the warmer far reaches of Australia or in the artificial climes of industrial poly-tunnels, why isn’t garlic grown all year round?

Probably more importantly, why do I get caught up in these self-imposed ethical dilemmas? Do other people stand in the supermarket aisle and silently wail 'why can't I find Australian tinned cannellini beans?!' before sighing and reaching reluctantly for the only ones available, Italian ones? Do other people get so caught up in their food rules — and heck, we are not even talking about nutrition or diet choices yet — that they sometimes go without?

I haven’t used the garlic yet. I wonder if I’ll feel guilty eating Mexican garlic. Hopefully I’ll just think, mmmm, real garlic again.

20 comments:

  1. This is very interesting e. I have the same struggle. My garlic crop from the previous season ran out early this year and ever since then I have gone without garlic. I resist the imported stuff too...and local garlic is impossible to buy in my part of the world.

    Happily, I have just started harvesting this seasons crop and it is a thing of beauty, I could burst with gardening and cooking pride when I look at it. Strange, I know.

    As far as this dilemma is concerned...it is all about balance. We are never going to be able to buy all things locally, I guess we are lucky to have options and choices. Enjoy that garlic, it deserves to be enjoyed after travelling all the way from Mexico! Have a lovely Sunday.

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    1. thank you jane - i'm kinda glad to hear someone else thinks about these things as much as i do. i'm hoping my garlic is not far off - i had another look after writing this and was surprised that it looked in good shape! so i completely understand your home-grown excitement and pride.
      and i had the mexican garlic for lunch yesterday and it was enjoyed - real garlic after all these months, it was delicious.

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  2. Maybe if you use it to cook mexican food you won't feel so bad?
    Principles are all well and good, but no-one is perfect. I don't think you should feel too bad.
    Maybe garlic chives might be a way to help get through a garlic famine?
    I think there is something to do with day length which impacts on garlic growth, though I could be making that up. So even with a polytunnel year round garlic in Australia (or anywhere) is not an option.
    Good luck with your homegrown garlic. I hope it is ready soon. ;)

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    1. ha, i like your suggestion, bek. and garlic chives, now there's a thought. thank you!
      well then maybe it is nice to know that for all the tech advances out there, garlic will not be forced to grow when it doesn't want to. new respect for that little bulb!

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  3. I wouldn't feel too bad about the garlic .. Love the stuff, I couldn't imagine going without. Thankfully we are still munching on ours from last season :)

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    1. ah, lucky you frogpond! maybe i need to grow even more garlic next year.

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  4. I have been struggling with the same thing and finally bought some Mexican garlic on Saturday.

    At Farmgate today they had some fresh so I wish I had held out! I bought some of that too :)

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    1. hello PG and welcome to dig in!
      again, it's nice to hear others think this way about the provenance of food too. i hope your mexican garlic was as tasty as mine. but dammit, i'd feel the same way, finding out there was stuff at the local market!
      maybe you can do garlic tastings :-)

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  5. We do what we can, and if sometimes we cannot, don't beat yourself up. Enjoy your Mexican garlic.
    But there is nothing in the world that would get me to buy those bags of Chinese garlic that are sold in a row in little string bags and are all uniformly white. Goodness knows how they get that bleached look. Jean, Brisbane.

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    1. jean, i agree with you on the chinese stuff. it looks too suspiciously snow-white! and i did enjoy the mexican garlic - it had a delicious full flavour, beautiful fat cloves.

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  6. Gosh, blogspot is annoying... you type out a considered comment and just disappears when you hit publish! I'm trying again... the one reason I don't buy imported garlic is because it is grown with chemicals that have been banned in Australia... the Chinese garlic in particular... it is also bleached and irradiated when it comes in to the country. I believe the Mexican is less of a problem. Let me know if you'd like me to buy some from my local farmers market. I am happy to post it to you! : )

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    1. oh that is annoying - i now 'copy' my comments before pressing publish, just in case. because i find it hard to remember what i've just written three seconds ago :-)
      that is exactly why i don't like to buy imported garlic, too, lizzy. i figured (hoped) the purple stripes on this mexican stuff may have meant it was a little less blasted with chemicals. i certainly wouldn't have bought chinese - i've also heard the soil is quite polluted. i don't now whether these are urban (and racist?) myths, but it's not a good thought.
      garlic in the post - you're gorgeous! :-)

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  7. I sympathise with you E, as I too often have to buy Chinese garlic. It is usually the only one available to purchase and considering I use at least 2 cloves per night in cooking, I need a good supply! We rarely see Australian garlic to buy but I always get loads when it is available. I am growing my own from organic Australian garlic cloves, but as I inspected yesterday, after being away last weekend, the small garlic bed is overrun with grass. This is my second go at growing it, if not successful, it will be back to Chinese and, yes, I too have purchased Mexican garlic, but I figure there is enough paper coating to keep any pesticides at bay. (That, and a high temperature in which to fry the garlic).

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    1. try growing your garlic in post of grow bags, merryn - that's what i do, it helps drainage but it may also help with your grass problem?
      the high frying temps - hadn't thought of that :-) oh, that and stomach acids perhaps?!

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  8. I completely understand your struggle of conscience. I can do without garlic but onions are another matter. I grow enough to see me through winter but in spring I find the commercially stored onions much better. That's fine until a few weeks before our summer crop is ready when the only onions I can buy come from Australia. That just seems crazy. How can it be sensible to ship a low cost commodity like onions half way around the world? I'm sure your Australian onions are very good, but ...

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  9. they are probably tassie onions, too - we grow a lot here. but i completely agree with you anne, it IS crazy that 'stuff' goes all around the world like this.
    what did people do years ago before such globalised groceries? i suspected they just enjoyed the seasons, stored things better, and then did without and waited.
    ah, all this over alliums!

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  10. Your post reminded me of GIY international (http://www.giyinternational.org/)... have you come across it? I'm sure I read somewhere that the whole network was started because the founder became frustrated with buying garlic grown in China when it grows perfectly well in Ireland.

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    1. hi G! i haven't see or heard of this before - what a wonderful initiative. i shall bookmark and read fully.
      it just seems strange that such a basic crop cannot be grown all year round here - somewhere here in australia - when all sorts of other things are obviously 'forced to'. one of life's frustrations.
      maybe i'll move to ireland! is the weather better?!

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  11. e, I have contemplated this subject on many occasions, as you can imagine. I think my solution for this year will be - buy heaps of local garlic when it is in season and dry some in slices and then whizz it into garlic powder in my friend's thermomix. My other plan is to mince and preserve my own garlic in vinegar. Not as good as fresh, but enough to get through the 'garlic gap', because no matter how much you grow, the stored garlic starts to sprout at the beginning of spring.

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    1. preserving garlic - that is an excellent idea jo. garlic powder from real garlic sounds brilliant too. i'd never thought of these ideas, jo!

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